


Vidimus

by Eissel



Series: Royai Week 2020 [4]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Breaking and Entering, Developing Relationship, F/M, Friendship/Love, Introspection, Long Shot, Pre-Relationship, Prompt Fic, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Roy and Riza get caught up in a looting operation, Royai Week, Sneaking Out, Treasure Hunting, Young Royai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:47:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24667858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eissel/pseuds/Eissel
Summary: Riza never thought she would find herself in this situation, after all, when the village girls boasted about sneaking out with their friends, Riza had never seen the point. Why risk the wrath of their parents for what seemed like such little reward?And yet she now finds herself in the middle of shattered stained-glass on the chapel floor, watching as Roy Mustang tries to put it all back together.
Relationships: Riza Hawkeye/Roy Mustang
Series: Royai Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1778905
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12





	Vidimus

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: So this was heavily inspired by Book 2 of _The Hangman’s Daughter_ series ( _The Dark Monk_ ), and if any of you have read that book, you’ll see the inspiration from a mile off. 
> 
> Royai Week Day 4: _**Crackle.**_
> 
> Crackle (n) - a network of fine cracks on an otherwise smooth surface.

“Come on Miss Riza, it’ll be  _ fine _ .” He wheedled, “Your father’s won’t be back until afternoon tomorrow, and the Lady won’t check in on us until morning! It’s the  _ perfect  _ time to sneak out!”

“No Mr. Mustang, it would be irresponsible of us to sneak out. Besides, what would we even do? The shops are all closed and it’s too cold to go swimming.” He rolled his eyes.

“Have you never snuck out late at night just to mess around in the woods?”

“Have  _ you _ ? From what you’ve told me about Central, there aren’t many forests.”

“In Central  _ City  _ yeah, but I went on a trip to a friend’s house in the woody area, and we snuck out for a few hours and it was fun. I did get caught though, accidentally got some poison ivy on me.”

“All that tells me is that we  _ definitely  _ shouldn’t go out now.”

“Aw come on! I didn’t even say I wanted to go to the forest anyways this time.” He laughed. “I like my limbs being intact thank you very much!“

“Then where, the mine? The stream?”

“1. I just said that I like being alive, so why would I say the mine, 2. Like  _ you  _ said before, it’s too cold out to go swimming, and even if it weren’t, you’d have to do laundry once we got home, and you already have enough on your plate.” Riza couldn’t stop a slight blush from rising on her cheeks as he justified his decision to not go to the river. It was… nice… to have someone actively thinking of her when they made their plans instead of leaving her as an afterthought.

“Okay, then where did you want to go anyways?”

“The old chapel over the hill.” Roy said confidently. “No one’s been inside for ages apparently, but there’s this whole legend about how  _ supposedly  _ one of the old Western Stamm hid out their treasure there before Amestris came in and annexed ‘em.”

“But how did the Amestrian soldiers  _ not  _ find the treasure in that case?”

“Legend says that- Okay, you know how a lot of the tribes voluntarily decided to integrate with Amestris to avoid war right?” Riza nodded. “Well, some of those tribes had different religions, because  _ duh.  _ You learned this in school.”

“The Stamm in this area was known as the Atuatuci.” Riza mused. “There was a split amongst them, or at least, that’s what I’ve read. While all of them were more or less okay with Amestrian annexation, there was division on if they should keep their religious practices or not. There  _ could  _ have been a few who posed as Amestrian faithfuls to be able their treasures.” She quickly added to the end of her speculation: “I’m not saying that it’s true or anything though! That treasure is probably just a bunch of religious artifacts.” But it was too late, Roy seemed utterly taken in by the idea.

“Yeah… Yeah, that could be it… Or,  _ or _ .” Roy grinned. “Hear me out, the whole legend is bunk.”

“You were  _ just  _ harping on about it though.” She complained, though she should have been used to it by now, Roy had a tendency to jump from A to Z while she was still working out the connections for A to B. It was a trait her father tried to train out of him with… varying amounts of success.

:Oh, right… Sorry, I did it again, didn’t I?” She nodded, and to his credit, he looked sheepish. “Well, so my theory is that the treasure? It’s actually illegal gold made from alchemy. Whoever stashed it here probably made up the whole legend to prevent anyone from going to look for it! I mean, who’s  _ really  _ going to care about a few religious artifacts that are probably half dust by now?”

“You, apparently. Before you started in on this theory that the treasure is actually illegal gold from after the Decree.”

“But isn’t that exciting Riza?! Actual illegal gold, if we manage to turn that in, or hell, if we manage to fence it somehow, we could be  _ so  _ rich.” Riza sighed, Roy’s ideas always took a turn for the slightly (or more than  _ slightly  _ in most cases) criminal. She suspected that it was an automatic function borne from him growing up in a brothel located in Downtown Central. 

“You’re assuming that I’m going to go along with your plans.” She stated dryly. 

“Well, I’m going to go out either way.” And he’d get himself caught, because Roy was reckless and stubborn, which would lead to someone noticing that something was going on at the chapel, and even if he managed to go undetected he might get  _ hurt _ , and then she’d lose the person who was potentially her only friend. 

Even if he managed to get out of all of it unscathed, he’d probably lose trust in her, because she’d always have the knowledge that he went out, and he’d have no reason to believe that she wouldn’t tell on him to her father. 

(Realistically, Riza knew that  _ Roy  _ knew that she would never  _ ever  _ tell on him to her father, but at the same time, her fear of being isolated and cut off from one of the few people she could genuinely call a friend paralyzed her) 

“...If you go alone you’re going to get yourself killed.” She stated bluntly. “So I guess I have to go. Just to make sure you don’t cause the townspeople a headache.” His face split into a giant smile, and he hugged her tightly. 

“You’re the  _ best _ ! Look, I  _ promise  _ that we’ll only scope it out, and if anything bad happens we get out and call for help, okay?” She nodded. 

“Let’s get going.” Roy ran out of her room, making a lot of noise as he thundered down the stairs, making Riza wince. As she picked up a small burlap sack she had stowed at the foot of her bed, she glanced guiltily at her closet. In it, she had stored a small pistol, the only memento of her mother’s family she had. 

She agonized over whether to bring it or not, but eventually decided that their safety was more important than the safety of a memento from a part of her family that she had never met before. Besides, this way the cellar in the basement wouldn’t have to be broken into just so she could get out her own hunting rifle. Besides, Roy wouldn’t be too surprised to see her with a gun, he’d joined her on more than one expedition out in the woods.

Walking out into the cool night air, she was greeted by Roy smiling at her. “You ready partner?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be I guess.”

* * *

Riza was slightly amazed that the chapel wasn’t secured at all, Roy had simply pushed on its doors and they had swung open, surprising both teenagers. 

“Well, that saves us the trouble of having to pick a lock or break in at least.” Riza didn’t comment. “Woah...” Roy breathed out as they entered the place of worship. The stained-glass windows and other artwork looked ethereal in the moonlight, giving it an air of regality despite its general state of dilapidation. 

“I wonder why the village still hasn’t removed some of the glass...” Riza muttered. 

“Probably too difficult, stained-glass is super fragile, and what would they do with it if they accidentally broke it during the removal process?” Roy replied, looking underneath pews and benches as he talked. Riza followed close behind, a hand always near her pistol. 

Reaching the altar, Roy frowned, and put his weight on it. It moved a tiny bit, and he kept pushing. “Ugh, this is so heavy...” As he continued to do that task, Riza let her attention wander over to the rest of the chapel. It was clearly old, given that moss and other plant life had taken root in the walls and floor, but she could still envision people sitting inside the building in worship. “Got it!” Roy’s voice jolted her out of her reverie, and she focused in on his discovery. “A secret passage!” He exclaimed. “There’s  _ no way  _ someone didn’t fence  _ something  _ down here.”

“You said that we;re just going to scope it out.” She reminded him. 

“But Ri- _ za _ !” He whined. “It could be  _**illegal gold**. _ ”

“No, we have to get going-” She paused, eyes flickering down to the passage. “...I hear something, get away from there.” Her tone brokered no argument, and Roy dutifully backed away, hand going for his pocket for the chalk he had probably stuffed into it. 

“I’m  _ telling  _ you Rich, if we don’t do this tonight, we lose our chance!” Riza glanced up at Roy and saw that he had heard the harsh whisper too. 

“You think someone else is here for the treasure?” Roy whispered, angling his head down at the opening. 

“...Yes, so we have to get out of here.” She said, already starting to back away. 

“No, we have to  _ hide _ , if they catch us, we’re toast!” He hissed, grabbing at her arm and pulling her into the shadows, hidden by one of the tall statues in the corner. 

“What are you talking about!? If we run, they won’t catch up-”

“You don’t know how long that passage was, we could  _ hear  _ their voices, that means they were pretty close. There’s no guarantee that they wouldn’t have noticed us.” Roy said, and Riza had to admit that he was sort of right. She still thought that they should have run, but Roy had decided to stay put and she wasn’t about to abandon him. As they huddled behind the statue, she watched as a pair, a man and woman climbed out of the passageway. 

“...Roy, this is gonna be risky.” She said. “But, there’s one way I can think we can get out of this without anybody getting too mad at us for sneaking out.”

“What’s that?”

“The manor is really old, you know that right?”

“Yeah...”

“Well, the Hawkeye’s used to own a lot of property around the area, which means we have a lot of servant tunnels.”

“Oh!” He whispered-exclaimed. “I get it, you want to say that we went down into the tunnels, AKA where your dad keeps all his alchemy stuff, and that we were down there probably to clean up or something, when he heard something strange, and we followed after them?”

“Almost, we didn’t  _ follow  _ them, they found us, and chased us to the chapel. When we get home, we’re going to have to trash the living room a little.”

“You mean more than it’s already trashy state?” He asked. “I mean, your father isn’t the most ordered person ever, I think we can get away with leaving it as is.”

“No, we can’t do that. People are going to know the difference between ‘messy’ and ‘someone broke in’. Another thing, you said you got into fights back in Central?”

“All the time.”

“Ever get into any fights with people twice your size? And  _ win _ ?”

“Nope, I’m not  _ that  _ good at fighting.” 

“Well, that’s not great. Plan B it is then.” She gestured to the glass. “You think you can deconstruct those pieces?” 

“Stained-glass is  _ not  _ made out of pieces-”

“No time for the details!” She hissed, watching as the thieves started prowling about the chapel, overturning benches. “Can you break the glass or not?” Roy glanced at the artwork, and seemed to be considering something. 

“Glass is mostly silica but it also has sodium carbonate, lime, magnesia, and alumina in it... the dye is going to be tricky though, I have no clue what goes into the dye for those...” Then his eyes lit up. “Wait, no, I’m stupid, stained-glass isn’t dyed, you get those colors by introducing impurities!”

“And those will be in low enough concentrations that the array won’t need to include them.” He nodded, and patted his pocket as though to punctuate his agreement. “Alright, then on my cue, okay?” She hesitated, and pulled out her pistol. “I’m going to shoot the candlebearer on the far side, the one by the doors. As soon as I do, you run out and start drawing the array.”

“And after I do that?”

“Well, they’ll hopefully be scared and start making mistakes. But you have to stay in the shadows, if they discover that we’re just kids, they’ll get more bold. Once the glass shatters, run out and get help. I’ll keep them busy with the pistol.” Roy stared at her with something approaching scrutiny. 

“No.”

“That’s the best plan we have, and they’re getting closer to us!” She protested. 

“I’ll help you up to the little bit sticking out above the altar, you take position there, and  _ then  _ I do all the stuff you just mentioned. I’m not gonna leave you down here while I run off, you might get hurt.” Sneaking a look at the pair, Riza decided that they didn’t have anymore time to argue. 

“Alright, fine, help me up.” Roy did so, and crouched so she could get on his back. As she clambered on, Roy stood up slowly, and she jumped off his back to the bit of wood sticking out over the altar. She assumed that this was where they had stored holy books and materials for the services. 

As she landed, her nose was assaulted by the smell of burnt wood and decaying plant matter. A dull  _ thump  _ had also sounded as she landed, and she quickly cloaked herself by rolling deep into the small area, the shadows managing to conceal her. Breathing in deep as she could without choking on the awful smell, she regained her bearings. 

The thieves were looking around now, trying to figure out where the sound had come from. This was her chance. She spied Roy edging himself out from behind the statues, ready to run for the stained-glass windows and start drawing as quickly as possible. 

“ _ I’m really good at shorthand alchemy Miss Riza, don’t worry about me. _ ” It had only been 2 weeks since he had started learning her father’s brand of shorthand alchemy, she could only hope that whatever experience with it beforehand came to fruition. 

She took aim, then pressed down hard on the trigger. The bang that went off surprised her slightly, as she was used to her rifle, which had an integrated silencer in it. The assumption at the very least didn’t harm their plan, even though Roy took off at the shot and now when the candler bearer was hit. She saw him drawing quickly, slamming his hand down as soon as he was finished, not even bothering to check his work. 

Just as the thieves started to regain their senses and check for where the sound was coming from, the stained-glass window shattered. She briefly saw Roy’s face get illuminated by the pale moonlight before he took off running again, this time having to drop into a slide to avoid being noticed. So he couldn’t escape through that one, there were more windows that could be used. 

She took aim and fired again, allowing Roy to make a dash to the next window. This one was further away from the thieves, which would allow Roy to break it and escape. As the thieves started to split up, searching more intently for the shooter, the window broke, and Riza saw Roy’s shaky silhouette jump through the window.

But she didn’t see him take off for the hills, where the village was. Instead, he took off towards the back of the chapel, and then she lost sight of him. She had no idea what he was doing, but she put her trust in him to the right thing. 

The moonlight streamed in from the broken windows, and she could hear the thieves whispering frantically now:

“Fuck- was that someone from the village?”

“Shit, it must be, they’ve gotta know about the loot too!”

“Then let’s get outta here, no need to get ourselves captured. There’s easier marks.” They escaped down the passageway, and Riza sighed, thankful that the stressful situation was about to come to an end. But she still didn’t know where Roy was, and she wasn’t about to move from her spot until she saw him again.

Which wasn’t long in the making as it turned out. His face poked through the window again, about 5 minutes since the thieves had left. 

“Riza!” He whisper shouted. “They gone?” She forced herself from sighing. For being so smart, he could also be  _ so very dumb.  _ Throwing the pistol down on the ground, Riza carefully made her way down from the alcove. 

“As far as I know, they ran.” She said. “And we should go too, before someone finds us.”

“We have to fix up this place first.” He argued. “It’s not gonna make any sense come morning why a bunch of these stained-glass windows are in pieces.” 

He knelt in the middle of the stained-glass, chalk at the ready. 

“Can you even fit them back into place?” She asked skeptically. 

“Of course I can! It’s all a matter of deforming the stone, and then raising it all back up again.” He frowned. “But… It will take up a lot of my energy if I don’t do it all in one go… Can you give me a moment?” He started muttering about components and energy values, and Riza decided to leave him be. 

She took a seat in one of the few benches that hadn’t been overturned. The statues in the corner were now shrouded in the darkness since the refraction from the windows was now gone. The little alcove she had hid was now even harder to see now to boot. Deciding that Roy would be okay on his own, she picked up her pistol, and decided to look around. She saw old books scattered near the back of the chapel and picked one to flip through it. 

It smelled old in addition to its appearance, the foxing staining the paper a dark brown. The paper felt fragile, like it would crumble away in her hands. Carefully turning the pages she read through the book. The one she held was apparently about some rudimentary alchemy, or at least some alchemy-like processes. She would have to hold onto it, maybe save it as a birthday present for Roy maybe since his birthday was coming up. 

She had yet to hear the distinct crackle of alchemy yet, so she went on browsing. Another book seemed to be a guide to the flora and fauna of the region, nothing too interesting, but it might be nice to have. Picking up another, this one revealed itself to be a book of scriptures.

“Draw your knowledge of the past from me and read the ancient tales of learned lore. Seek not the vaunted verse of the cycle; but look in me and you will find in me all that the world contains.” She read. “A book of myth then?” She flipped to a later section, and scanned the pages. They were broken up into sections, which made her think of a scripture book or psalm book, like the ones her teacher had shown them a few months back in their Ancient History unit.

“Their work will be shown for what it is,” She read. “Because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.” Setting the book down, she resolved to let it rot in the desolate chapel. No need to bring home a book that would further fuel her father’s obsession if he were to find it. Turning back to Roy, who had apparently finally figured out the components of the array. He was already up, drawing a large, concentric circle around the glass. 

“You figured it out?” She asked. 

“Mhm, did you find anything?”

“Just some books.” He paused in his drawing. 

“Anything cool or useful?”

“Just some notes on the land and geography. I think there was a book of myths back there.”

“Well, when we’re done, I might want to take a crack at it, there’s gotta be something that can help me with my encoding in there.”

“Myths will help you with making ciphers?”

“You can use a lot of things for inspiration.” He argued. “Doesn’t Master Hawkeye use the old name days for  _ his  _ code? Where do you think he got that from, because it certainly wasn’t anything contemporary.” Riza had the good sense to blush, realizing that he was right. 

“But you already have a solid code.” She said. “Father already looked over it and gave you a grade for it, I thought you said it passed his inspection?”

“Oh, it did, but you always want contingencies. Besides, I don’t think he really wanted me to use that code anyways. An alchemist’s code is supposed to be his greatest secret.”

“Then is it really okay for me to know what inspired you to make it?”

“I trust you Miss Riza.” Roy said, going back to drawing. “I don’t think you’d tell nobody.” He finished, and patted his palms clean on his pants. “Here we go.” He calmly (almost too calmly, like he was about to participate in a ritual rather than repair a window) placed his hands on the circle, and the area around them lit up.

It was a calming blue, she decided. It matched up against the dark blues of the glas, almost blending in, and lighting it up so that it seemed like it was glowing. At its peak, she thought, the chapel must have been lit up like this, candles alight and glowing with bright orange flame, people dressed in ceremonial garb attending the service as the head of the religion in that area presided over the congregation. The light must have streamed in, the people must have been vibrant and  _ alive _ , singing hymns and repeating scriptures. 

It all seemed so distant, yet real, like she and Roy were the inheritors of that legacy, lost pilgrims come to worship one last time. The glass shuddered and came together, the pieces sliding back into place. She did notice that there were crack in some sections, stretching out like a web as the crackle of alchemy died down. Then the panel was absorbed into the wall, the stone deforming and stretching until it was back at its original height. Roy looked awful as the transmutation finished, but he dragged himself to his feet. “Can you help me with the other pieces?” She nodded, placing her books and gun down to gather the rest of the pieces. 

As soon as they were assembled into the circle, Roy placed his hands down again. The chapel was again alight in a dim glow, and she was reminded of a passage in an old Xerxian myth Roy had shown her while he had helped her “study” for her exam. 

“ _ The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. _ ”  _ He had read. “Man, I know this is just for your test, but the Xerxians had some really cool proverbs. Shame you have to write it in Xerxian rather than Amestrian, because that looks like a  _ **_bitch_ ** _ to translate.” His snickers had echoed in her mind, evan as she had chased him away from the table, finally fed up with his distractions. _

She wondered if that was how the tribes of what was now Modern Day Amestris had felt when Xerxes had fallen, after years, no decades, of riding roughshod over their lands and livelihood, aided by the mysterious power of alchemy, Xerxes had disappeared without a trace leaving only their legacy of alchemy behind. Did they feel enlightened? Did they feel liberated?

Or were they feeling what she felt, a sort of bittersweet reverence and distance?

Riza watched as the second window came together, the pieces shuddering into place as Roy glued them together with alchemy. The cracks almost seemed natural this time, as though they had always been a part of the art, even as they spread across faces and bodies and colorful robes, Riza decided that the webs of cracks gave the stained-glass a feeling of humanity it had lacked before. 

Imperfect, just like the two teenagers now kneeling together in an empty, dilapidated chapel. 

“Let’s go home.” She whispered. 

“...Can we take a moment?” He asked, keeping his voice low. “That took a lot out of me.”

She waited, for what felt like seconds, then minutes, then eternity, until he finally got up. She took his offered hand, and they walked out of the chapel, but not before Riza grabbed her gun and books. 

It was still night as they walked outside, the moon hanging high overhead. “That felt like it had taken us hours.” Roy complained. “Don’t tell me it only took us like 30 minutes or something stupid like that.”

“No, you’re right, we were probably in there for at least 2 hours.” She agreed. 

“Well, whatever, don’t look gift horses in mouths and all that.” He griped, leaning heavily on her. “And at least it means we have light to walk by.” She nodded, and they continued walking. 

* * *

“Ugh, next time we sneak out, we chose something tamer. Like the hills! That’s a nice tame spot, no thieves or looters to be found.”

“Next time?” Riza asked, as she turned to leave Roy’s room. 

“Of course, what, you think I’m gonna be deterred from sneaking out with you again? We still have a lot of things to do together.” She sighed, but it wasn’t disdainful.

“We’ll see Mr. Mustang. Now go to sleep.”

“Aye, aye ma’am.” He said cheekily. Riza rolled her eyes, and walked into her room, depositing the books and gun in her closet and covering them up with a pile of clothes that had fallen down in her haste to get ready for their late night escapade. 

As she fell asleep, Riza smiled, the thought that Roy still wanted to hang out with her despite tonight clearly being an unmitigated disaster bringing her joy.

**Author's Note:**

> Stamm is German for "Tribe", so the Western Stamm are the... Western Tribes, really creative, I know. The Atuatuci is a real Celtic-Germanic tribe that used to reside in Belgium.


End file.
